Purpose
This conference will explore current sustainability issues and opportunities that transcend the private, public and non-profit sectors. Leaders will share the unique strategies they utilized to integrate a sustainable approach into organizational culture and structure, in order to spur innovative solutions. Attendees will hear from passionate thought leaders, visionaries, and experts who are fostering holistic solutions to our current environmental, economic, and social challenges. The symposium serves as a forum to help sustainability practitioners share best practices and next practices. It is also an opportunity to connect current experts with Columbia’s emerging sustainability leaders.

Program
The symposium will include two panel presentations, a keynote speaker, and reception. Panel topics will include current and future trends, challenges these trailblazers have faced and opportunities discovered in the areas of leadership and innovation as they relate to sustainability. Our keynote speaker, Eric Corey Freed is Principal and Founder of OrganicArchitect. Eric is a renowned architect and author with over 20 years experience in green building. He is considered by many to be a leader in the field of sustainability and speaks nationally about key sustainability issues.

Panels
The panels will focus on leadership and innovative sustainability approaches to solving global issues. The Leadership Panel will focus on how to create maximum value while integrating sustainability into an evolving organizational culture. The Innovation Panel features designers, entrepreneurs and green chemists exploring innovative solutions including biomimicry, systems thinking, lifecycle analysis and benign manufacturing. They will also explore how corporations can broaden their value propositions through market innovation as well as collaboration with the public and NGO sectors.

Venue
The Sustainable Perspective will be hosted at the Low Memorial Library Rotunda at Columbia University’s Morningside Heights Campus in New York City. The Low Memorial Library Rotunda is the university’s primary ceremonial space on campus. It hosts major prize ceremonies such as the Pulitzers and Bancrofts, as well as visiting dignitaries and heads of state.

Keynote SpeakerEric Corey Freed, LEED AP, licensed architect, author and lecturer, is considered a leader in the field of sustainability and is the Principal and Founder of organicARCHITECT. With over 20 years experience in green building, he speaks at conferences across the country about key sustainability issues and has written four successful books, including the best seller, Green Building & Remodeling for Dummies. Eric’s work has been featured in Dwell, Metropolis, Town & Country, Natural Home and Newsweek.

PanelistsTristam Coffin is the Green Mission Specialist for Whole Foods Market’s Northeast Region. Tristam oversees the implementation of environmentally responsible programs and green building initiatives for the 22 stores, regional office and 6 future stores that make up the company’s Northeast Region. Mr. Coffin is a LEED Accredited Professional, expert in waste and resource management and holds a broad array of environmental expertise in areas including energy conservation and renewable energy. Under his leadership, Whole Foods Market’s Northeast region has opened three LEED GOLD certified stores.

Steven Cohen is the Executive Director of the Earth Institute, Professor in the Practice of Public Affairs, and founder and Director of the MPA in Environmental Science and Policy Program, at Columbia University. He is also the Director of the Master of Science in Sustainability Management at Columbia University’s School of Continuing Education. He is a consultant, former policy analyst for the U.S. EPA, and former member of the Advisory Council on Environmental Policy and Technology for the U.S. EPA.

Mark Dorfman is a Green Chemistry Naturalist & Member of the Biomimicry Guild Speakers Bureau. Biomimicry is an innovation method that seeks sustainable solutions by emulating nature’s time-tested patterns and strategies, e.g., a solar cell inspired by a leaf. Mark is liaison between the Guild and the world’s leading green chemists to develop the biomimetic component of green chemistry strategies. He’s charged with helping Guild clients find sustainable solutions through inspiration from nature’s warehouse of sophisticated, elegant, and life-friendly chemical transformations.

Greg Hale is a Senior Financial Policy Specialist at NRDC’s Center for Market Innovation, focusing on developing a large-scale private sector financing market for energy efficiency building retrofits. He works with various financial institutions, governmental entities, property owners and non-profit organizations to help develop and scale-up innovative financing mechanisms in the efficiency retrofit marketplace. His work also includes advocacy for energy efficiency leasing practices.

Sam Harrington joined Ecovative Design LLC in 2008 when the company was just a few people in a basement with a wild idea to revolutionize the way materials are made. With a background in mechanical engineering and design, he’s helped develop the automated EcoCradle packaging manufacturing/growing system, and designed packaging for customers. As Environmental Director, Sam has conducted Life Cycle Assessments of the production system to inform engineering decisions and minimize Ecovative’s environmental footprint. Sam is an active member of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, and several local environmental groups.

Sarah King is a principal at GreenOrder, a strategy and management consulting firm. Her experience in business strategy, organizational development, and marketing allows her to align environmental sustainability with the key goals and processes of GreenOrder’s clients. As a project leader at the Boston Consulting Group, Sarah advised clients on a range of topics including new market entry, pricing strategy, marketing effectiveness, and process improvement.

Sascha Simon is head of advanced product planning for Mercedes-Benz USA (MBUSA). He is responsible for long-term planning functions in the strategic planning area of product management. In this role, Simon ensures that future Mercedes-Benz product offerings in the U.S. best deliver on customer needs and desires based on market research and trend data, working in tandem with research & development in Stuttgart, Germany and Palo Alto, California. Prior to joining MBUSA in 2004, Simon worked at Daimler-Benz Aerospace in Munich where he was head of business development and strategy for the Satellite Constellation branch of the then newly formed European Aeronautics, Defense and Space Corporation (EADS).